There is a new business in town, and it just opened in time for the hot summer days and tourism season.

An official opening day of Friday, June 9, Square Brew is located on Parsons Drive in Goderich.

When just open for a week, Square Brew was already in business with people wandering in and sitting at the bar for a taste and supplying the Black Dog and the Little Inn in Bayfield with kegs.

The first and only brewery in Goderich, run by Alex Menary and Connor Brown, the name Square Brew pays homage to the main centre of town, the Goderich Square.

Square Brew owner Alex, originally from Milverton, was studying Engineering and home brewing at the same time, decided to end his studies and follow his passion.

Alex enrolled in a three month Brewer program, in Sunderland, England and when he returned home worked for Block 3 Brewery in St. Jacobs. He has also been a brewer at Amsterdam Brew House in Toronto.

“You always want to do your own thing and make your own beers and run it the way you would like to run it, and so over the years, I figured out what I liked and didn’t like at other breweries that I worked at, and bringing the best of both worlds into Square Brew,” said Alex.

“I have worked in other breweries so I know what I like to make and how I like to make it. So it is more than a specific recipe, it’s more on technique and the way I like to brew and what I have done at other breweries, then taking that all together and making my own.”

The opportunity to open his own brewery came along when his parents and their friends wanted to invest and partner with him.

Currently, Square Brew has two beers on offer at the moment: Vienna is Waiting, which is an amber lager and The Pilsner, which is similar to that of a German pilsner.

“The beers that are on tap right now are the first two batches and I am super happy with how they turned out, which is great because you aren’t always happy with your first couple of beers, but I am really happy with how these turned out,” stated Alex.

As the brewer, Alex produces approximately 2, 000 litres of beer per week, and in each tank at the brewery, a different batch sits while it ferments and ages.

“The tanks in the front corner, that’s the brew house. So on my brew day, I’m up there, mixing grain and water, filtering it into the next tank and boiling it while adding hops. Then you cool it down into a fermenter, and it ferments for about a week,” Alex explained the brewing process. “Then it lagers after that for 3 or 4 months, depending on the beer.”

The amber lager has a malt taste, but is crisp and easy to drink, while the pilsner is light in colour and with a little bit of hop character.

The third beer that will make an appearance at Square Brew in the next few weeks is the Hop Miner IPL, which is similar to an IPA with lager yeast. It is currently sitting in one of the tanks fermenting and aging.

Square Brew also offers a one-year membership in the ‘Mug Club’, where you buy a custom-made clay mug and it sits on the wall. Every time you come in, you get your beer served to you in your own mug.

As many breweries are offering beers to take from the site in the form of ‘Growlers’, Alex wanted to be able to offer that at Square Brew but in a unique way.

Square Brew offers ‘Crowlers’ instead, which are 1L cans and are filled at the tap upon purchase. The cans are then placed on a machine that will seal it with a lid, ensuring the freshness of the beer and limiting the chances of the beer going flat. The cans are also recyclable and for one use only, which ensures cleanliness.

“It’s a can-growler. It’s one liter, but it’s not as big as a growler, so it’s a little easier to keep it fresh. It’s not re-sealable either which means that people won’t drink half of it and come back a few days later and drink the other half only to realize it has gone bad. They have a better seal than a growler, as the growler lids don’t always seal properly and you can get oxygen coming in, and the beer sometimes ends up flat,” Alex explained.

There is also trendy looking merchandise for sale at reasonable prices such as t-shirts, hats and glassware with the Square Brew logo on them.

The partners and owners of Square Brew are excited to share their beer with the town of Goderich and the tourists who visit, and to contribute to the other successful businesses here.

“It is a small town that is super into supporting small businesses. We have seen tons of people that are excited about the brewery already and then we have the benefit of being a tourist town too. The summer boom of all kinds of people coming through town should help us sell a good amount of beer all summer,” said Alex.

“We are most excited about people coming in and trying the beers. As a brewer that is the best part.”